Economics, equity and policy: The story of Mariam Chamberlain

Mariam K. Chamberlain, a little known, but critically-situated, champion of women, died last week at age 94. She was a gifted researcher who understood the power of information. Armed with a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard, she took a hard look at the inequities women faced in the workplace and in society at large. She was determined to do something about them.

She knew that "hard," indisputable data was critical to making the case for needed political, economic and social change. Mariam Chamberlain funded efforts to obtain it and created institutions that could make good, strategic use of it.

And what a difference she made. Indeed, she was the critical voice--with the funding to match--that shaped and supported the movements for women’s studies and academic research and policy.

She applied the concept of “evidence-based policy” before it had a name. It is ubiquitous now in political, academic, philanthropic and public debates on matters involving health, education and social policy, but it certainly wasn’t when Mariam got started. She was a pioneer. So, it’s not just what she accomplished in creating and seeking legitimacy for women’s studies—a field in which she was pivotal—but, more broadly, in the use of research, as evidence, in making policy arguments for change.

Known as “the fairy godmother of women’s studies,” Mariam championed that cause because her own research, and that of colleagues, established what she and others knew only too well: The history of women, along with art by women and literature by women were largely absent from college textbooks. Unlike others, though, she was in a critical place to do something about it. She joined the Ford Foundation in 1956, and, as a program officer, for a decade starting in 1971, she used upwards of five million dollars to start dozens of academic studies, sociological projects and statistical surveys that laid the groundwork for women’s studies departments and public policy research programs across the country.

The Politics of Women's Studies: Testimony from 30 Founding MothersAmazon.com

In the obituary that appeared in the New York Times, two examples of her work illustrate her impact. In 1975, Mariam approved a grant for a study that analyzed introductory courses in English, history, sociology and psychology at 172 American colleges. The study found that women’s history and literature were virtually being ignored. The significance of that impact could simply not be ignored. From the report:

‘…unless changes are made most undergraduate men and many undergraduate women will continue to leave college without considering the role of women in history, the implications of sex discrimination in the labor market, or the influence of sex stereotyping on their daily lives.’

This was huge!

Another Ford grantee, thanks to Mariam, was the Center for Women Policy Studies, in Washington, founded in 1972, for the purpose of studying domestic violence, pay inequities and discrimination against women in loan policies.

Mariam was in the right place at the right time for the Ford Foundation was in a particularly fertile period. Changes in American college curriculums were encouraged and grants were made to expand programs in international studies. It was then, too, that seed money was provided for black studies research. Public interest law grants were made during this time as well including those given to firms advancing women’s rights.

After she left Ford, she served as president of the National Council for Research on Women, the organization that she created in 1981. The Council helped to advance the work of the very research centers that she had helped seed, including those at Stanford, Rutgers, University of Michigan and at over 100 other universities. Quite an accomplishment for the daughter of a shoe factory worker--her father--who, according to the Times, “did not believe in women’s education.” But, Mariam was certainly 'no apple falling close to the tree.' She attended Radcliffe College on a full scholarship before continuing her studies at Harvard and earning her Ph.D. there in 1950.

Visit the tribute page at the National Council for a glimpse into the impact of this talented woman by those who knew her best, those she ‘discovered,’ those she supported and encouraged and who are now following her example, doing good, important work.

“The Politics of Women’s Studies” contains testimony from thirty of the “founding mothers” of the field, some of whom appear in the tributes to Mariam. While she wrote little about herself, she made an exception for this book. Her contribution? “There were Godmothers too.”

And so she was. Godmother, trailblazer, inspiration and agent of change. Mariam Chamberlain, one of a kind.